You’re not going to believe this but not too long ago there was no such thing as the Internet. Yes, that’s right…no on-line. No cell phones , either.
C’mon, think hard. Remember?
Okay, okay…then THIS is something you won’t believe. On Route 46 in New Jersey there is an actual store that sells camera stuff. Get this…. they sell film too. (Sigh) You do remember film, right? Okay, put your iPhone down and listen up. Or better yet, open up the Wiki on yer iPhone and look up film.
Okay, this is going to blow your mind (insert sound effect here). To get my hands on film, it is actually faster for me to drive-to-the-store than to order on-line. The store is Unique Photo in Fairfield, NJ. A short drive from the Film Photography Podcast Studio, this cavernous store (with coffee bar) is most likely the last brick and mortar store to offer Polaroid integral and pack film products.
(clockwise from upper left) A surrealistic experience finding film displayed in an isle of an actual store…it’s true – Polaroid 300 film is nothing more than re-branded Fujifilm Instax…600, Spectra and Pack film galore (but watch out for the “price sting” on the 600 film)
I stocked up on pack film including 2009-dated Polaroid 664, 667 and fresh-dated Fujifilm FP-100c. Thanks, Paul!
I found a bit of Unique history on the web: “In 1947 Bernard Sweetwood and his wife Harriet founded Unique Photo. Forged by their hard work and fueled by Bernard's lifelong passion for photography, the small Brookyln storefront quickly blossomed into today's Unique: one of the largest and most successful suppliers of its kind. In 1965, the company moved across the Hudson. In 2008 the company - now headed by sons Jonathan and Matthew - moved to its current state of the art facility in Fairfield, New Jersey.”
I even located this “cable spot” on You Tube!
When visiting the Garden State, enjoy a real store experience at Unique…and don’t forget to shoot me an e-mail…I’ll meet you there for some Java! - Michael Raso / FilmPhotographyPodcast@gmail.com
With the re-emerging Instant Films in stores this year via Polaroid / Fujifilm and The Impossible Project, amateur and professional photographers alike have raised their eyebrows after initially thinking that instant photography was going the way of the dinosaur when the end of instant film was announced by Polaroid in 2009.
ABC-TV New York report on the end of Polaroid instant film
In 2010, instant photography is alive and well with continued commitment by Fujifilm in Japan and grassroots movements like http://www.savepolaroid.com/ and The Impossible Project getting more attention this year than in the last two decades combined.
The Fujifilm commitment aside, most instant film excitement has been coming from an old Polaroid factory in Enschede (pronounced En-Ska-Day), Netherlands, where The Impossible Project purchased equipment from Polaroid and promised to make new films for the millions of existing Polaroid SX-70 and 600 cameras in the world.
CBS-TV USA report on the end of Polaroid and beginning of The Impossible Project
For those of you who don’t eat, sleep and breath Polaroid photography (like me!), instant film by definition “is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera (and, with accessory hardware, with many professional film cameras). The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photo, and the instant camera exposes and initiates the developing process after a photograph has been taken.
1963 Polaroid instant camera TV ad
In earlier Polaroid instant cameras the film is pulled through rollers which breaks open a pod containing a reagent that is spread between the exposed negative and receiving positive sheet. This film sandwich develops for a predetermined time, depending on film type and ambient temperature, after which the positive sheet is peeled away from the negative to reveal the developed photo.
In 1972, Polaroid introduced integral film, which incorporated timing and receiving layers to automatically develop and fix the photo without any intervention from the photographer.”*
Most folks are familiar with integral instant film with cameras like the Polaroid One-Step. Polaroid cameras were heavily, heavily advertised in the 1960s through the 1980s.
Polaroid One Step TV Ad 1981
The Impossible Project has made good on their promise and in March 2010, introduced monochrome SX-70 and 600 films. On July 29th, Impossible introduced their “First Flush” edition of color film for SX-70 cameras and plan on releasing color film for 600 cameras later this year.
Earlier in 2010 Polaroid Corporation announced a new, re-envisioned One-Step camera called the One Step pic-1000 to be available in December 2010.
The Polaroid Pic-1000 announced January 2010 at the CES show in Las Vegas, Nevada USA
Then, two months later under the direction of Lady Ga Ga (Polaroid’s new Creative Director), Polaroid surprisingly released the Polaroid 300 camera.
Lady GaGa discusses her creative partnership with Polaroid
The camera uses business card sized color film and was released to the US market in April 2010. Many on-line bloggers have noted that the release of the 300 camera solidifies the Polaroid-Fuji relationship since the 300 camera and film is manufactured by Fujifilm Japan re-branded Polaroid here in the United States.
Elsewhere in the world, the camera is known as the Fuji Instax Mini. It should be noted that Fujifilm attempted to release their Instax Mini cameras and film here in the US in 1999 but instead made an arrangement with Polaroid and partnered on the short-lived Polaroid Mio camera.
It is suggested that Polaroid will continue the relationship with Fujifilm and introduce the Pic-1000 camera with new 600 film manufactured by Fuji late in 2010.
The “Just Do It” episode. Topics cover big format film, publishing your photo, CLA: clean-lubricate-adjust, Polaroid updates and more! Hosted by Michael Raso and Duane Polcou
Donate to the Film Photography Podcast Do you have a (working) camera you’d like to donate? Extra film? (expired is okay)…we’ll give away your donation to an FPP listener! Have extra cash…donate and we’ll invest in additional cameras and gear to give away. If you donate over $100 cash, you'll get one of Michaels prized Film Cameras.
Letters to FPP Send us an e-mail (FilmPhotographyPodcast@gmail.com) or an old-fashioned hand-written letter! Film Photography Podcast c/o Pop Cinema PO Box 152 Butler, NJ 07405 USA
Duane and Michael have a discussion about how you can improve your chances of getting paid work by expanding your portfolio with "free" images and tear-sheets (which are your photos torn out of published magazines). If your work is out there and promoting your name (even if you're not getting paid), surely you're improving your visibility to paying customers.
We're giving away a Polaroid 600 camera (with Impossible Film) in the next episode, so please send an email with "Polaroid 600" in the header, and a short explanation of who you are, what you do, your address, and why you shoot film.
email address: filmphotographypodcast@gmail.com
We're also giving away the camera that Dan Domme donated, the Agfa Clack, if you'd like to be in the running to pick up this 120 film camera, again, email us with "Agfa Clack" in the header, and a short explanation of who you are, what you do, your address, and why you shoot film.
Want to enter both contests? PLEASE SEND SEPARATE EMAILS!
Remember that there's not long to shoot and develop your Kodachrome and get it sent off to Dwayne’s Photo. Get Kodachrome on eBay! You've only got until December 30, 2010.
In a future episode we'll be talking about work flow (shooting, processing, scanning, digital management, archiving)
Michael and Duane discuss taking stills during a film production.
Since I began shooting with the new Polaroid 300 camera, I’m reminded daily (via e-mail, FaceBook and Flickr posts) how “sad” it is that new Polaroid products are just re-branded Fuji products.
Polaroid Corp had a long run. Some might say that it wasn't the same after Edwin Land passed or attribute the fall of the original company to changing times.
For me, it's encouraging that the new Polaroid is partnering with Fujifilm to release instant film. If an instant print makes you or someone else smile, then nothing else really matters.
My heart sank when I heard the news that 29-year old Jennifer English was killed in a tragic accident, here in New Jersey on Monday night.
Jennifer was the long-time girlfriend of filmmaker & friend Victor Bonacore. I’ve seen them frequently in the last year no doubt sparked by the fact that Victor is shooting his first feature film using film stock instead of a digital medium.
Jennifer, beautiful and charming, was scheduled to be photographed in my studio as part of my ongoing Kodachrome book project (art directed by Paige Davis).
A terrible, terrible loss. My heart goes out to Victor and Jennifer’s family.
- Michael Raso
- Paige Davis, Jennifer English, Victor Bonacore, Dave Neabore and Nick photographed on a vintage Kodak Brownie Twin-20 this past April -
My passion for film photography has been a positive factor is getting me out from the dark studio and into the great outdoors. (even if it is just a few steps from my studio door!)
The many angles of Butler Center and the adjacent Main Street in Butler USA are captured with newly acquired vintage camera arriving almost daily from all points USA and Europe.
this image: Butler Center / 6-27-2010 / Holga 120N camera with 35mm Kodachrome 64 top image: Butler Center / 6-2-2010 / Polaroid Colorpack IV – Fujifilm FP-100c Instant Film
“Butler Center (formerly American Hard Rubber Company building complex) is part of the Morris County Heritage Commission).
In 1881 the growing town of West Bloomingdale was renamed Butler after Richard Butler, who had taken ownership of the American Hard Rubber Company.
The American Hard Rubber Company buildings (now Butler Center) were built in 1898. On February 26, 1957, the rubber factory was destroyed by a massive fire. One Butler resident remembers the fire being so bright she could read a newspaper in her yard at 3am at a distance of 1 mile. The glow reportedly was visible for 100 miles; volunteer fire companies from 55 municipalities required mutual aid response during the initial hours and then in shifts over the next week. New York City Fire Department, 30 miles away, offered help when observing the bright glow.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler,_New_Jersey
Today, Butler Center (the remaining buildings from the factory) has been converted into an industrial complex housing many manufacturing companies including my studio– Pop Cinema, Building 6 (Home of The Film Photography Podcast).
Town Hall, Butler, NJ USA / Kodak Jiffy Six-20 camera / Fujichrome Velvia 100F film
Butler Center / 6-5-2010 / Polaroid Super Shooter – Fujifilm FP-100c Instant Film
Butler Center images below shot on the new Polaroid pic-300 camera and 300 Instant film (except *)
* This image shot with the short-lived Y2K Polaroid Mio camera. Image below: Canon FTb camera / EFKE KB 21 Black and White Negative Film
When not behind my desk at Pop Cinema or testing vintage cameras, you’ll find me producing The Film Photography Podcast.
FFP listener Tony Kwong has “fed” my Polaroid addiction via an e-mail discussing the short-lived Polaroid MIO camera (and the Polaroid – Fuji partnership)
I wasted no time connecting to e-bay to find a used Polaroid MIO for myself.
“Just to let you know, this is not the first time that a Fujifilm instant film product has been distributed by Polaroid, they have a long history of working together dating back to the mid 1980's they shared many technologies. Fuji's instant film offerings were not well distributed in the North American market. So a well-distributed Polaroid branded version was very welcome.
First there was an instant peel apart pack film called "Polaroid ProVivid" or "Type 689" that product is the same as Fujifilms FP-100c.
In the early 2000's, Polaroid released a short-lived instant camera called the "mio" which was a redesigned version of the Fujifilm Instax mini. It took a film called mio film which I later discovered was exactly the same as the fujifilm instax mini. This was a great thing as I was able to find imported instax mini film after Polaroid stopped distributing mio film in 2005. This was before last year when Instax mini was finally available in the usa.
I continue to buy instax mini film primarily from American distributors like Unique Photo, Freestyle photo, B&H, Adorama and Mel Pierce camera instead of importing directly to show the distributors and Fuji there is a demand for their products in the usa.
Now as for compatibility of film you discusses in your July 15 podcast. I tested the 300 film, and it does indeed work in a Polaroid mio. I don’t have an instax mini camera to test as I have given it away, as compared I would think they are exactly the same.
This blog would be incomplete without exhibiting some of the fine images shot by L.Å.R. (Lance Rothstein) on his Polaroid MIO camera (on Fuji Instax Film).
